Are you learning about women’s rights with your children? I’ve got a great list of children’s books about women’s suffrage to help you learn!
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There’s a good mix of picture books and reference-style options on this list of suffrage books for kids, but these books also cover a nice age range.
Also, while some are ideal for middle schoolers, most are appropriate for any elementary age kiddo learning about women’s suffrage (especially if you’re willing to tackle the longer books a little at a time).
Women’s Suffrage Movement
Books for Kids
Before jumping into these books about the women’s suffrage movement, keep in mind that the links in the descriptions below all lead to Amazon. If you prefer to support local bookstores through your purchases, see my Bookshop.org list. It has nearly all of these titles, plus some extras not referenced here.
1. Rightfully Ours: How Women Won the Vote, 21 Activities
Rightfully Ours is the perfect place to start exploring the women’s suffrage movement with kids. It’s a nonfiction resource that features timelines, spotlights on key Suffragettes, lots of photos, and activities to promote hands-on learning.
If I could only choose a couple of books about women’s suffrage to share with my kids, this would be one of them.
2. Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote
Written by United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Bold and Brave is an inspiring way to learn about the women’s suffrage movement. It features a short overview on 10 heroic women who paved the way for voting rights, incredible illustrations, and American history highlights featuring women and women’s rights.
Also worth noting, Senator Gillibrand shares about women in her family and her connection to the suffrage movement. That adds a personal touch to this one that many children’s books about women’s suffrage don’t have.
3. Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage
Bessie Keith Pond was a 10-year-old Californian girl during the women’s suffrage movement. Inspired by Bessie’s real diary, Marching with Aunt Susan shares the story of her encounter with Susan B. Anthony and the impact that encounter had on Bessie’s life and the lives of all Americans.
For more on Susan B. Anthony, consider Who Was Susan B. Anthony? and Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President.
4. Elizabeth Leads the Way
Elizabeth Leads the Way is a lovely introduction to suffrage pioneer Eizabeth Cady Stanton. Not only did my daughter and I enjoy the presentation of her story and her motivations in this picture book, we couldn’t get enough of the illustrations.
If you can’t find Elizabeth Leads the Way, look for Elizabeth Started All the Trouble. It’s another picture book option for learning about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her role in the suffrage movement.
Need something for an older kiddo? Consider You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton by Jean Fritz. At 96 pages, it’s ideal for older elementary and middle school kids.
5. Suffragette: The Battle for Equality
Suffragette: The Battle for Equality is one of the most comprehensive children’s books about women’s suffrage I’ve come across. At 128 pages, it covers the movement year by year, notable figures in the movement, and even spotlights suffrage leaders in other countries.
The cool thing about this one is that, while it’s a nonfiction women’s suffrage resource, it’s not a boring presentation. It’s got a nice layout and includes tons of fun illustrations.
6. If You Lived When Women Won Their Rights
If You Lived When Women Won Their Rights from the If You Lived When… series explores what life was like before and during the suffrage movement by asking lots of questions and answering them.
It features several key leaders in the movement like Abigail Adams, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott, but also explains aspects of American life like how girls dressed, how women earned money, and marriage laws.
7. Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles
Nell Richardson and Alice Burke aren’t the first names I associate with women’s suffrage, but I love how Around America to Win the Vote shares their story. This fun picture book celebrates the two Suffragettes and their drive around the United States to spread the word about women’s voting rights.
8. A Time For Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C. 1917
A Time For Courage from the Dear America series is a diary-style living book that takes kids back to the time of the suffrage movement and lets them experience what it might have been like for a young girl living in Washington, D.C. at the time.
9. Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote
Learn about Alice Paul and her role in the suffrage movement in Miss Paul and the President. It’s a colorfully illustrated picture book about the parade she organized and how it impacted President Woodrow Wilson’s position on women’s rights.
Can’t find Miss Paul and the President? Look for Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote. It shares this story from a different angle, but is still an interesting way to learn about women’s suffrage.
10. I Could Do That!: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote
I Could Do That! is an awesome reminder that children and teens can make a difference in the world! It’s about Esther Morris and the role she played in securing women’s voting rights in Wyoming Territory.
11. The Voice that Won the Vote: How One Woman’s Words Made History
I look forward to reading The Voice that Won the Vote with my kiddos. It’s a picture book about Febb Burn and how her simple words helped pass the 19th amendment in Tennessee, thus giving all American women the right to vote.
Looking for more books about women who have changed the world for the better? Take a look at these lists before your next library trip.
Do you have reading suggestions for learning about women’s suffrage with kids? Share your favorite books in the comments so we can check into them.